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THE 



TURAHST [Vol. XLIII 



bark, or he even suggests the possibility of young plants 

 being transported on uprooted trees. The shore of the 

 island is covered with masses of logs and fragments of 

 trees which might very well have brought with them not 

 only vegetable immigrants, but animals as well. An in- 

 teresting case was that of the two species of fleshy fungi, 

 Polystietus, which were found growing upon logs lying 

 on the shore, and whose mycelium almost certainly had 

 been growing in the logs before they were drifted out to 

 sea. 



Birds have undoubtedly also played their part in the 

 introduction of seeds, especially those of fleshy fruits 

 such as the species of Vitis, common near the shore, and 

 several species of figs found somewhat further inland. 



The rapid development of the vegetation in the nine 

 years between the visit to the island in 1897 and our visit 

 in 1906, and especially the great increase in the forest 

 vegetation, makes it evident that before very long the 

 forest which originally covered the island will be again 

 in possession. Already the belt of forest along the shore 

 is working inland, and it is to be expected that the patches 

 of forest in the ravines flanking the cone in the interior of 

 the island are spreading shoreward, so that in the course 

 of time the intermediate belt of grassy land will prohably 

 be completely obliterated and the forest will once more 

 be in undisputed possession of the entire island. 



